Opportunity
by Nilke
Summary: After the AghaniHeaney case, Mark starts thinking about his relationships, and a certain person.


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the movie, nor anything related to Bridget Jones, or Mark Darcy. They belong to their respective owners.

_Opportunity_

Mark Darcy left the Court room, satisfied. He had just won another case. After five years of struggle (even if he hadn't been right there since the first day), Kaffir Aghani wasn't going to be repatriated, where a sure death was waiting for him.

He decided it would be better to leave the merry couple alone, but before leaving he warned them to leave as soon as they could. He also told them once again not to give any interviews, nor answer any of the questions that the media would ask them, once they put a foot outside the Courthouse. He had just taken a look outside through the window, and he saw the street crowded of reporters -either from the radio, the TV or the newspapers- and cameramen. If Kaffir Aghani and Eleanor Heaney -the merry couple in question- were to say even a single word to those avid, news-hungry people, both of them would end up killed by a reporter's avalanche. And that way, both his and Eleanor Heaney's work would have been in vain, as Kaffir would have been killed nonetheless, not by a dictatorial government or extremist citizens, but by mad reporters in search of the news that would make their day.

Having warned them about the amount of journalists waiting for them outside, and reminding them not to talk to them, Mr Darcy left, while the couple celebrated their triumph with a kiss.

Mark smiled lightly at that, while walking away. They surely deserved it, to be happy and free at least, not having to worry any more about Kaffir's repatriation. It had been a long, tough path, and they have made it together. Finally, they had finished that part of their common journey, and they would begin another one, definitely calmer than the one that had ended a few minutes before with the Judge's verdict.

Mark Darcy walked out from the Courthouse, and started avoiding reporters. Quickly behind him came Kaffir and Eleanor, who had made up their mind and decided to follow their attorney. They realized that if they stayed in the Courthouse, they would never be able to get out from there. Thankfully for them, Mark had already reached the car that would take them away, and waited for them with the door opened. As soon as they were both inside, the Human Right's specialized attorney closed the door. The couple then left under a rain of camera flashes.

His work was now completely done. He was partially responsible of Kaffir Aghani's freedom, and he made sure that he and his wife left without making any contact with the press. Could he ask for more?

He certainly could. He could ask for more cases like that. They were difficult and long, but the final outcome was worth it. If he didn't like those cases that much, he would have chosen the wrong specialization.

He could also ask for a post in some important buffet, like Abbot and Abbot from New York, for example. Human Rights were worldwide, and the laws related to them were practically the same, so he could be easily offered a job somewhere outside from England. As long as it wasn't in Japan, everything would be fine...

That last thought drove him to another wishes. He could ask to stop feeling lonely, or that people stopped him torturing him about his marital status, and the lack of a new girlfriend and all that. Or even better, he could ask to find someone, at last. That way, he wouldn't feel lonely, and no one would ask him to overcome the past and find someone new. Oh, well, they would ask when the wedding would take place, and after that, they would ask when he planned to have children... Whatever he did, people wouldn't stop asking for something else. Not just to him, but that stood for everyone.

Back to his wishes, he could ask not to receive some childish, embarrassing and ridiculous gifts from his mother, whatever the occasion.

Mark began walking slowly to the kiosk at the street corner, in front of the Courthouse. The disappointed reporters were now picking their things, getting ready to leave. A few had tried to follow the car where Aghani and Heaney were, but they wouldn't get any notes that way. Slowly, everyone was leaving, and the street would return to its normal appearance.

Mark walked thoughtfully, still thinking in his case. He really admired Eleanor. If it hadn't been for her, things would have been different. It was more Eleanor's work rather than his own one what made Kaffir a free man. She had gone through many hardships to save his beloved one from an intolerant death, and finally, she had succeeded.

He wondered if he could ever find someone like that, who would do everything for him. He thought he had found her in his former wife, but it didn't turn out like that. Now it wasn't time to grieve about it, when nothing could be done. He hadn't seen her since the divorce. Maybe she had returned to Japan, maybe not. He had no clue about her whereabouts. Not that he was interested in seeing her again, just out of curiosity. If he had wanted to see her, he would have already done it. He cut off that relationship, as it had never existed. He did so with his former friend Cleaver.

He was too busy with his thoughts when he came into the kiosk and asked for something, completely ignoring the blonde in front of him, who was already asking for something.

He hadn't expected her to be Bridget Jones, but it was. Her expression changed from irritation to surprise when she realized it was Mark the rude one that had interrupted her. She even mumbled something about him liking her just as she was, but he didn't understood what she said until some minutes later.

Just then, her cameraman rushed into the kiosk, yelling that they had missed the note, as Aghani and Heaney had already left. Worst of all, he couldn't tell if someone had interviewed them or not, as he had left to urinate.

Bridget felt helpless. "Sit Down, Britain"'s crew couldn't be more disorganized. She, the reporter had left to buy cigarettes in the middle of her job, and then, the reporter left while she was out, as he had a "biological emergency". She didn't even want to imagine her boss's face when he knew why they had really missed the note. She was going to be sacked for sure, there was no other doubt about it. What a great birthday gift she would have...

Mark felt pity for her. She always messed everything out. Even when she worked hard to make things well, things turned out for the worse for her. It could be for her verbosity, or her tendency to spill out whatever she had in mind, at any time, without thinking in the consequences, or just bad luck. Maybe if she had some serious opportunity... Right then, he came out with a plan.

"No one did", he said, interrupting the fellow workers argument, when Bridget asked if someone had interviewed them.

That statement puzzled Bridget, so she asked him how he knew that. Did he had a crystal ball or what?

She was even more surprised when he said that he had been the couple's attorney. And she wsa surprised to no end when he offered her his help.

Deep within, without admitting it openly, Mark was enjoying the situation. He loved it when he surprised people with his best poker face. This one was one of those situations. Bridget would have to change his opinion about him being right there just to embarrass her.

They barely talk in their way to his office, where they would meet with Eleanor and Kaffir for the exclusive, one-media-only interview. He was sure that Bridget would do a good job. At least, that was what he hoped for.

(Later)

The interview had gone smoothly, without any inconveniences. Bridget had started a bit tense, but hopefully for her, she relaxed during the exclusive conversation with Kaffir and Eleanor. Thankfully, she didn't say or ask anything out of place.

Right after the interview, everyone left in their own direction. Bridget and her cameraman left in a hurry to the TV station, eager to finish the miraculously obtained work. Kaffir and Eleanor left tot heir home, ready to enjoy their victory on their own, from once and for all.

Mark was now at his home, taking a well-deserved rest, at long last. Making himself a tea, he realized it was time to see the interview.

He picked his cup of tea and switched on the TV. After some minutes, the interview was announced. He didn't like to see himself on a TV screen, he felt dumb. But there he was, replying to Bridget's first question.

He listened to his own words. "... Her struggle for the man she loves...", he had said somewhere in that conversation. He wondered again if he would find someone who would do something like that for him, or someone who he wouldn't mind going through uncountable hardships just to make that person happy. He was still too wounded by his former wife's "treason" to feel comfortable with a woman once again. Christmas still made his heart ache, as it was the day when he found his former wife with his former friend Daniel Cleaver together. Maybe he couldn't find someone to be by his side because of that, but he felt it was because he wasn't prepared to accept a new companion, fearful of being hurt again, or because he didn't like the women he had around him.

Natasha wasn't a bad woman. She was efficient, a hard-worker with some good-looking future, but she wasn't what he was looking for, against what she thought. She had a tendency to mix work with private life and free-time, apart of an authoritative attitude. He started going out with her hoping that he would like her sooner or later, but that wasn't going to happen, apparently. She would always be talking about work, and cases, and all that. He didn't need a full-time secretary. He wanted someone who would understand him and who would support him, not a reminder of his work agenda.

Oh the other hand, Bridget was close to his exact opposite: somewhat untidy, an appalling speaker (whereas his speeches had been recognize by some colleagues as "the most convincing ones in quite some time"), and she always said what she thought, being rude at times.

But look who was talking about being rude. He had to admit that the first time he saw her after some years, at her mother's turkey buffet party, he hadn't been nice. The fact that he had been pulled out from his bed by his mother, just to assist to a party he hadn't been invited before, and that he had to wear a damned reindeer jumper given to him by his mother for Christmas. Worst of all, it took place a few days after another anniversary of his short marriage end. All those things together made the best of moods on earth.

But he had also been rude at Kafka's Motorbike presentation party, when he embarrassed her when he introduced her to Natasha, just saying that she used to play naked in his house when they were little, as her "curriculum". Needless to say, he had hurt her badly. Anyway, she took her revenge by leaving the party with that bastard of Daniel Cleaver. Only that she didn't know that.

That event had become like a "click" to him. He would have wanted to warn her about Cleaver's behavior, but after his attitude towards her, she would have never listened to him.

Seeing Bridget with Cleaver became painful for him, and he couldn't even explain why. He would have given everything to be in the same boat as Bridget that evening, instead of listening to Natasha's ideas for another case. Bridget was enjoying the moment with Cleaver, and that annoyed him. He wanted so much to switch places... He deserved to be there with Bridget, not Cleaver. Cleaver could get all the chicks he wanted, and he would dump them when he got bored. For some reason, Mark didn't want that thing to happen to Bridget. Could it be that he was starting to feel something for the girl who used to play naked in his paddle-pool when she was little?

For some odd reason, it seemed so. He would have liked to share the boat with Bridget rather than with Natasha, and he would have liked to be Bridget and comfort her in that barbecue, when she appeared with that bunny-girl disguise, as she wasn't told that the costume party had been cancelled. Instead, he stayed with Natasha, talking about more cases and things like that.

Maybe he liked her because she paid little to none attention to the consequences, or maybe because she said exactly what she meant to say. Maybe he needed someone from another environment, rather than related to his work. Natasha was his work-mate, and he had met her first wife at the University, so maybe he just needed someone that worked somewhere else.

Mark finished drinking his tea, and came with a conclusion by the same time. Maybe he shouldn't wait for someone who would do everything for him, but he should do everything he could for his beloved one instead. In fact, he had already started doing that earlier, by helping Bridget Jones out with her work, so she wouldn't be fired. That was surely a quick start.

He made up his mind: he would go to her house, just to talk and congratulate her for her interview. He left his home. The late edition of the newspaper gave him an opportunity, as her photo was in the front-page. He was now heading for her home, in order to congratulate the new media star. He hadn't thought that his help would lead to that outcome, bringing her some popularity, as she had been the only one who interviewed Aghani and Heaney. Who would have told it earlier that day...?

It was time for him to give her an opportunity, just as he did earlier that day. He liked her, because she was so different. Or was she? Their mothers embarrassed them to no end, at certain times. Both of them had some kind of relationship with a work-mate, and that didn't work out as expected. Bridget had been dumped, and Mark wanted to dump Natasha, but he didn't dare, especially because they weren't a "couple", in the sense of the word. They just went everywhere together, but they weren't going out as a couple. At least, he saw things that way. Although they shared some things, they were still different. Maybe that was what he needed, after all.

It was time for him to give himself an opportunity, by paying her a visit. He had already told her how he felt about her. Now he just had to meet her somewhere else rather than their parent's parties (which always ended up being embarrassing for both of them, truth to be told), and wait for something else to happen. If he ignored her, he wouldn't get anything from her in return.

He had an opportunity right in front of him. He wasn't going to let it go...

The End

Author notes: I've wanted to write a Bridget Jones' fic for some time. Finally, I came with an idea, after watching the movie for the sixth or seventh time (and I still enjoy it greatly) D. I hope someone will like it. Please tell me if I made a "correct" characterization work. Not that they interact much out of the movie script, but I don't know if I did well with Mark's thoughts and feelings towards Bridget. One of the reasons why I didn't write anything about them is because I was fearful of messing it up in a terrible way. It always happens to me with my favorite characters.

Sorry for that (Later) tag. For some reason, erases the lines I put in between when I want to separate things. I hope that this one will be visible!

Well, I hope that someone will like this fic... Thanks for reading.


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